Lessons in Chemistry: Comparing the Read to the Watch

The Book

Lessons in Chemistry, the 2022 blockbuster bestseller by Bonnie Garmus, sat on my shelf for a long time, tantalizing me with the promise of a book I was sure to love. When I finally dove in, I did enjoy it, but I definitely didn’t love it with a burning passion (book lovers will know the difference). Elizabeth Zott, socially stiff and awkward, and brilliantly gifted as a scientist, encounters endless obstacles in her attempt to be taken seriously in the world of the early 1960s, when men and women adhered to prescribed roles. Being a female scientist was well out of the norm, to the point where Elizabeth is expected to make coffee for her fellow scientists, among many other slights. When she meets the equally brilliant Calvin Evans, though, both their lives change as the two lonely misfits experience a deep, even chemical, bond unlike any they have witnessed in the lab where they both work.

A few years later, Zott finds herself alone again (to say why would be a spoiler), and this time, she has a little girl to care for. In order to survive and provide for her child, Elizabeth must get creative, which is how she finds herself as the reluctant star of a TV cooking show, Supper at Six. She also must step out of her silo and lean on people for support as she continues to pursue chemistry and discover her daughter’s hidden legacy. With a riveting plot, breezy and funny, insightful writing, and original, fascinating characters, the book is a winner on almost every level. Unfortunately–and oddly–a stubborn anti-God narrative persists from beginning to end, which marred the book for me. Even when I understood why Elizabeth and Calvin were so adamantly opposed to the idea of a loving God, the relentless nature of Garmus’s resistance left me feeling curious and even a little bit sad. Note: The book contains profanity as well as disturbing scenes of sexual assault.

The Series

It makes sense to me that actor Lewis Pullman, who plays Calvin Evans in the Apple TV series Lessons in Chemistry, imagined his character and Brie Larson’s Elizabeth as “aliens.” Both Calvin and Elizabeth are so singularly quirky in the same way it’s as if they come from another planet. Nominated for 10 Emmys, including Larson’s nod for Outstanding Lead Actress In A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie - 2024, and Pullman’s well-deserved nomination for Supporting Actor, the series is beautifully crafted and dazzlingly acted. Larson is enthralling to watch as the rigid yet vulnerable Elizabeth, and Aja Naomi King as Harriet, Elizabeth’s neighbor, owns the screen for her scenes (King is also nominated for Supporting Actress). However, I could never get behind King as Harriet, and it had nothing to do with her nuanced acting. The writers of the series invented a whole, off-book subplot about racial activism, with Harriet at the center. They made Harriet younger than the character in the book, and while I liked King, she did not play the “real” Harriet, who was funny, sarcastic, and a surrogate mother to Elizabeth and her daughter. When a screen adaptation erases one’s favorite character in the book, it’s a big deal. Though that did bug me throughout watching the series, some characters were improved upon, including the minister Wakely, who was written for the series to have a genuine faith in God as he guides Elizabeth’s daughter Mad in her quest. Interestingly, the anti-God element in the book was lightened and balanced in the series. The sexual assault scenes from the book are non-graphic or absent altogether. Overall, with the exception of the book Harriet’s erasure in the series, I preferred the series to the book. Shocking! And true. (Rated TV-MA for non-graphic sexual assault, mature themes, death and some profanity. Watch Lessons in Chemistry on Apple TV+)